Mary Hall will never forget the first time she portrayed Mary, the mother of Jesus, in a rehearsal for Promised Valley Playhouse's holiday production, "The Gift of Christmas."
It was different from all the times she had acted as Mary during family night or in a small ward production - this time it was overwhelming."It was kind of like a chance to really be there and really see how it felt to be there - even though there wasn't anything in the manger," Sister Hall recalled.
She said the "The gift of Christmas," conceived and directed by Randy Boothe, invites the audience to "celebrate Christ."
In the production, former Broadway star Robert Peterson portrays an innkeeper who turns Mary and Joseph away. He meets a modern-day family who explains to him the significance of the birth of the Christ child.
The production, which is now in its fifth year, takes the innkeeper to Santa's workshop, a London street in Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" and to "The Nutcracker" ballet wonderland - teaching the innkeeper about the spirit of giving and the spirit of change.
Travis Hodges, who has acted in the production for the last four years, said as those in the audience travel through time with the innkeeper they feel the Christmas spirit and start to better understand the gift given to everyone by the Savior.
"It all comes back to the spirit of Christmas," he said. "People from different time periods share the light of Christ that is in them."
Chris Jacobs, who portrays the father in the family, said the music in the play, by Brother Boothe and Michael McLean, helps people feel Christmas.
"The show is about change and how the little baby born on Christmas makes it possible to change," he said. "In everybody's life I am sure there is something they wouldn't mind changing or going back to fix. In the show the main character gets the chance to do that."
Performances, which begin Nov. 24, run Tuesdays through Saturdays until Dec. 22. Matinees are scheduled Nov. 25 and Dec. 2, 9, 16, 20, 21 and 22. Tickets, which cost between $7 and $14, are available at the box office at 132 S. State St. in Salt Lake City or by calling the theater.